A couple of years ago, the Elephant Family charity and Quintessentially Foundation devised one of the most successful and enjoyable fundraisers of the decade, when 80 teams of supporters drove hundreds of miles in convoy across Central India in designer-pimped tuk-tuks. Business tycoons, socialites, distinguished environmentalists, old India hands and green cheerleaders raised impressive sums for the charity founded by Travels on my Elephant author, Mark Shand, which aims to protect the Asian elephant and its migratory pathways across the Indian sub-continent.

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So successful was it that, this October, a second adventure is being held - 'Travels to my Elephant: The Extraordinary Elephant Adventure' - this time using state-of-cool Royal Enfield motorbikes, Gujarati Chagda and a selection of antique Jeeps. The 500km route goes from Jodhpur to Jaipur via Balsamand, Khimsar and Pushkar, with participants staying in luxurious hotels, lodges and tented camps. The route passes along some of the prettiest rural back roads in Rajasthan, with lunches and parties planned at every step on sand dunes and salt flats and near remote shrines. It will be a rare night when fireworks aren't exploding above one in the night sky, with Bollywood dancers, fire eaters and village musicians laying on the entertainment.

Guests will set out in teams of two or three, and there is still space for a final few teams to sign up, providing they can meet the charity's criteria (see below).

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The event is being led by Mark Shand's nephew, the entrepreneur Ben Elliot, with a judicious mix of British and Indian socialites, environmentalists, eco activists, swashbuckling Rajputs and India lovers taking part.

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The Elephant Family (lead patrons: The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall) is one of the most energetic and practical charities in the field. It exists to publicise the plight of the Asian elephant and to lobby corporates and government to adopt policies which take wildlife into account when developing human infrastructure. It sensibly seeks to create a future for elephants living in harmony with humans, to prevent elephants from coming into conflict with villagers, raiding crops and straying on to railway lines and highways. In a few short years, it has achieved an enormous amount.

Anyone who has read Mark Shand's magical book about his yearlong journey across India aboard Tara, his beloved elephant he rescued, and her eventual retirement to Kipling Camp in Madhya Pradesh, will have some idea of the culture of this splendid and undeniably glamorous charity. In the interests of full disclosure, I should perhaps mention that I am a tier-three Patron of the Elephant Family, but I remain utterly objective in my glowing assessment of it.

'Travels to my Elephant II' will kick-start with an official flag-off from HH The Maharaja of Jodhpur, and end at the City Palace in Jaipur, followed by a desert party featuring 101 decorated elephants.

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For readers of Condé Nast Traveller who relish adventures, who love India at its most beautiful and photogenic, who are up for a party from time to time, and who would like to play a part in preserving the Asian elephant, this is the trip to embrace. You will deeply regret it if you don't come.

See you there!

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What to do: The people to contact without delay are Olivia Watts (olivia.watts@quintessentiallyfoundation.org, +44 203 073 6891) or Nieta Bruto da Costa (nieta@elephant-family.org, +44 207 251 5099). They can email you all the details. Guest can be in teams of two or three people. There is a £6,000 entry fee per person covering pretty much everything, including Business Class flights to India with BA, internal flights, transport, accommodation, food and drink etc, plus, importantly, a separate £6,000 fundraising target for the Elephant Family. So you have to work a bit to make that happen. The dates are October 31st to November 6th.By Nicholas Coleridge